Studios split over Redbox
LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood studios are split over Redbox, the $1-per-night DVD rental kiosk company: They could supply it with cheap wholesale discs and ride its massive growth, or starve it in the hopes of preserving higher-priced purchases.

Welcome Business
Robin Giddens Sheppard, of Beaches Chapel by Hardage Giddens, president of Ponte Vedra Chamber of Commerce, with Dr. Allison Falden and Dr. David Falden, Healthy Eye Family Vision Center, at their grand opening celebration on July 29. Healthy Eye is in the Ponte Vedra Pointe Shopping Center. The hours are from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Wednesday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday. For information, call 686-1386 or go to www.myhealthyeye.com.

Review: Sullivan Road
Pierce Lehmbeck's new novel "Sullivan Road" is set in one of the poorest, most isolated parts of mid-southern Georgia during World War II, but to the large, extended Sullivan family -- some of the most vivid people you'll meet in the pages of any book -- it is home.

Cascades celebrates first year
It was one year ago that the community's clubhouse officially opened, and the social committee, headed by Heather Alexandre, the full-time acitivty director; and Denise Fleming, a resident, planned the gala attended by 175 residents.

Club Notes
A memorial service for Flossie Crowe, known to members of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 4256 as "MaMa Flo" will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday at the aerie, 13 S. Dixie Highway.

Renaissance Resort at WGV earns Gold Key award
Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village received Meetings & Conventions 2009 Gold Key Award recognizing the world's finest meeting facilities. The Renaissance completed a $10 million property-wide renovation in 2008 which has brought forward numerous awards for the hotel this past year.

Column: Adults should rule children
Q: I've been a public school teacher for quite a few years, and with the school year starting soon, I wanted to ask your opinion and advice concerning the problem of kindergarten and even older children throwing fits when it's time for them to separate from their mothers in the morning. Some of the kids in question won't even get out of the car without a full-blown battle. It seems to me and the other veteran teachers I speak with that this problem is far, far worse than it was, say, 20 years ago.

Volunteer Spotlight
Volunteers are needed to help with the Sertoma 2nd Time Around Store, a thrift store supporting local people and paws causes.

Sewing is fashionable for 4-H'ers
However in June, 12 4-H youth participated in a unique experience which gave them the opportunity to learn from experienced sewers.

FCTC navigator students recognized
First Coast Technical College's Career Navigators conducted a four-week, summer work experience program for youth between the ages of 14 and 24, in St. Johns, Putnam and Clay counties.

Beach tug of war to assist group
The 12th annual Beach Tug-of-War and Pool Party continues from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 29 hosted by the Holiday Inn at the Beach. All of the proceeds from the day's activities will be given to Give the Kids the World Village.

Cake decorating classes set
First Coast Technical College is holding a series of four-part cake decorating classes from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays on FCTC's main campus, 2980 Collins Ave., St. Augustine.

News and Notes
A Motorfree Boaters of America chapter is being formed in St. Augustine, and the first meeting is planned from 9 a.m. to noon at Anastasia State Park.

Sarris family has local reunion
The 87 family members came from all across the United States, including California, Michigan, Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

VPK program helps youth
If your child turns 4 years old prior to Sept. 1, he or she qualifies for the free VPK program available at First Coast Technical College.

Library, local writers host program
Join the Main Branch Library and the Ancient City Chapter of the Florida Writers Association for two powerful programs on writing and the business of writing.

Go and Do
Mainly Books: The Friends of the Library of St. Johns County invite guests to Mainly Books book store, in the Main Library, open from noon to 7 p.m. Browse for favorite authors and recent popular titles. Proceeds support children's and adult programming at the Main Library. Call 827-6940.

Go and Do
Vilano Farmers Market: From noon to 4 p.m. every Sunday, a farmers market will be held at the Vilano Beach Pier Pavilion overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway. Market visitors will find fresh produce, desserts, baked goods, on-site cooking, high quality arts and crafts, entertainment and other offerings. Go to www.thesundaymarket.com or www.vilanobeachfl.com, or call 540-8797 or 501-5545.

Low sodium causes many symptoms
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What can you tell me about a low sodium level? My visiting friend (from England) was refused embarkation on his cruise because he was acting belligerent and confused. The ship's doctor sent him to a hospital. He had scans, an EEG and numerous blood and urine tests. Everything was normal except he had low sodium. His insurance carrier sent a doctor from England to accompany him on a flight back to London. He has since seen his own doctor. His sodium level has risen. What happened to him? -- B.L.

Dear Dr. Donohue: Many dependable medicines for psoriasis
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have had psoriasis for seven years. It started on my legs and then moved to my stomach and back. Doctors have given me creams for it, but they haven't done much good, and they cost a lot of money. Can you tell me what might help? -- J.W.

Plane, copter collide over Hudson River
NEW YORK -- A small plane collided with a helicopter carrying Italian tourists over the Hudson River on Saturday, scattering debris in the water and forcing people to scamper for cover. Authorities believe all nine people aboard the two aircraft were killed.

Frank Lloyd Wright hotel to be restored
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiasts are claiming victory in their effort to restore the architect's last standing hotel, an Iowa landmark that has fallen apart over the past few decades.

National Report
DES MOINES, Iowa --Crews are clearing trees and debris after thunderstorms downed power lines and caused damage in central Iowa.

Cash for Clunkers hurting charities
CHICAGO -- Vehicles were lined up for one of the weekly auto auctions benefiting Texans Can, a charity that helps at-risk teenagers and their families, when prospective donors started to call, saying they had changed their minds.

New cars sell out
As the "cash-for-clunkers" program reaches its next chapter, some dealers say their stock of new cars is waning.

National report
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The Christian rock band MercyMe canceled a show Saturday in the St. Louis area after its tour bus collided with a car in Indiana, killing two passengers in the car and the pregnant car driver's unborn baby.

Judge fines prison guard $1.3M for inmate's rape
DENVER -- A federal judge was so appalled that a former Colorado prison guard accused of raping an inmate was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor that he imposed $1.3 million in damages in the inmate's civil lawsuit -- a message advocates hope will pressure corrections officials nationwide to protect prisoners from misconduct.

Seven bodies pulled from Hudson after collision
HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Divers pulled a helicopter and four more bodies out of the Hudson River on Sunday in their search for victims, wreckage and explanations from a midair collision of a helicopter and a small plane that killed nine people.

Drug industry helps health plan
WASHINGTON -- The nation's drugmakers stand ready to spend $150 million to help President Barack Obama overhaul health care this fall, according to numerous officials.

Sotomayor takes oath
WASHINGTON -- Sonia Sotomayor became the 111th U.S. Supreme Court justice in the nation's history Saturday, taking an oath to "administer justice without respect to persons and do equal right to the poor and to the rich."

Clinton: China reassured on U.S. economy
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she thinks the Chinese "are breathing a little easier" about the health of the U.S. financial system.

Pa. priest: Killer's actions fit evil intent
GREEN TREE, Pa. (AP) -- Before Elizabeth Gannon and two other women were shot dead and nine more were wounded in their classroom at a health club, the gunman paused to shut off the lights.

Road construction this week
Willow Cove Subdivision (Nocatee): various streets with temporary lane closures due to gas line construction.

County gets $14.5M in stimulus
St. Johns County has received $14.5 million from the multi-billion dollar federal stimulus bill since April, but most of that money ended up slated for education grants, housing loans and transportation planning, none of which mean many new jobs.

City may delete Plaza sales law
St. Augustine officials will add a new ordinance to their agenda tonight that would rescind the city code that prohibits vendors from the Plaza de la Constitucion.

Animal preserve at center of uproar
For almost 10 years, Deborah Warrick, founder of the St. Augustine Wildlife Reserve, has provided a sanctuary for exotic animals that have been abused, neglected or abandoned.

Lane Closures
The following is a list of roadwork under way by the Florida Department of Transportation that may impact traffic in St. Johns County:

Dredging Dilemma
When storms hit the St. Johns County coast in 2007, some beachfront property owners in the Vilano Beach-South Ponte Vedra area found themselves scrambling to keep their homes from plummeting into the Atlantic Ocean.

For sale: Writer's home
When Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings struck it big with her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "The Yearling," she bought a cozy beach house on Crescent Beach for a few thousand dollars.

Teen faces murder charge
A Putnam County 16-year-old faces possible life imprisonment in a first-degree murder trial set to open today in the Flagler County courthouse in.

Locals cash in on clunkers
Joey Cassata walked into his boss's office at the St. Augustine Kia dealership after selling two of the Rio models Saturday afternoon.

Editorial: Courage shown by Manuel whistleblowers
St. Augustine attorney George McClure and Bruce Robbins, an Atlantic Beach developer consultant, in the face of threats and demands for money from suspended St. Johns County Commissioner Tom Manuel, took steps to end that illegal pressure.

Letter: Objects to local tax increases
Editor: "Read our lips, no new taxes." That familiar outcry may soon get louder in St. Johns County in protest of the proposed tax increases city and county commissioners say are needed to balance their 2010 budgets.

Letter: Police patrols needed on bayfront
Editor: I drive downtown several times a week and at different times. I do not see carriages or trolleys as the main problem. I see vehicles speeding while others are sightseeing and not paying attention, and some doing both. I also do not see cars stopping at the crosswalks, and if they do, the car behind them may not stop.

Opinion: A coup for lobbyists at the White House
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, ousted in the middle of the night just over a month ago, enjoys global support for his return, with the exception of the Obama White House. While Barack Obama first called the Honduran military's removal of Zelaya a coup, his administration has backpedaled.

Outrage beginning to dog us
Maybe it's the dog days, but three friends recently got in touch within a 24-hour period to catch up. Or more like it, to catch their breath.

Opinion: Obama birth certificate in bogus moon video
Tardy though they are, we welcome MSNBC to finally joining every major conservative news outlet -- including Fox News, The American Spectator, Human Events, National Review and Sweetness & Light -- in discrediting the idea that President Obama wasn't born in this country and, therefore, is ineligible to be president.

Lessons from Venice Beach
So I'm in Los Angeles anyway to give a speech when I'm asked to visit the Venice Beach Boardwalk to see how they regulate the sale of art and other stuff in that public place and if it might work for St. Augustine.

Column: Is political correctness hurting college students?
On-campus political correctness has gotten so bad that unpopular speech is suppressed, and students no longer learn how to navigate a world in which others disagree. This dynamic has only gotten worse since my Harvard policy classes 15 years ago, when the few conservative students frequently shut up in the face of withering derision during class "debates." The liberal majority was left believing that they knew how to think through issues, never realizing they'd simply learned how to silence dissent.

Police report
The following was compiled from police reports collected from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office (SJCSO), St. Augustine Police Department (SAPD) and Florida Highway Patrol (FHP):

Police Report
The following arrests were compiled from the St. Augustine Police Department, the St. Augustine Beach Police Department, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Highway Patrol.

Local Watch
Menendez baseball standout Avery Romero helped the Tampa Bay Warriors into the quarterfinals of the 15U World Wood Bat Association National Tournament in East Cobb, Ga. The tournament, which wrapped up July 26, consisted of 76 teams from around the nation. Romero, who was an All-County selection and Class 4A second team all-state performer as a freshman, went 12-for-15 in the event. Romero had a home run, two triples and four doubles. ...

Tips from a golf pro
Often the importance of proper alignment gets overlooked by the regular golfer. Bad shots show up and they start tweaking their swings, but a lot of times these poor shots are caused by bad alignment.

Ringing in retirement
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida State's Bobby Bowden says he wants one more national title before retirement.

Local Watch 2
The St. Johns County Recreation and Parks Department is starting mens, coed and church softball leagues at Treaty Park the week of Aug. 31.

Richt: One back won't replace Moreno
ATHENS, Ga. -- Mark Richt isn't ready to predict the winner of Georgia's tailback competition. He won't even predict that one winner will emerge in the effort to replace first-round draft pick Knowshon Moreno.

NFL: Cowboys counting on WRs
SAN ANTONIO -- Roy Williams won't have to replace Terrell Owens' catches, yards and touchdowns all by himself. The Dallas Cowboys just have to figure out where the rest will come from.

Shula goes from comfort to combat
And yet there he was, at age 79, strapped into an Army helmet and a 40-pound bulletproof vest, squeezed into a Blackhawk combat helicopter slicing across the Afghan desert over enemy Taliban outposts.

Rain postpones Cup race at The Glen
Lally, a champion road racer with dreams of competing in NASCAR, was scheduled to make his first Sprint Cup start on Sunday. But a band of rain moved over the road course at Watkins Glen International and never lifted, forcing NASCAR to postpone the race until noon Monday.

Dixon has record-breaking win
Dixon became IndyCar's career leader in victories with a commanding performance in the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Sunday. The win was the 20th of Dixon's career, breaking a tie with former series star Sam Hornish Jr.

Footloose fullback
The noticeable pep in Greg Jones' step isn't a product of Jacksonville's new emphasis on finding more ways to get the ball into the hands of its playmakers.

Local Watch
Here are some key dates: Aug. 21, 22 and 23 are the skimming days. Aug. 19 is the Typhoon Lagoon surf event at Disney. Aug. 20 is the S.P.o.T skateboard event in Tampa.

Sabathia leads Yanks to sixth straight win
NEW YORK -- CC Sabathia didn't allow a runner past second base while pitching into the eighth inning and the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 5-0 on Saturday for their sixth consecutive win.

National: DuPuy accepts Ortiz claim
NEW YORK -- Baseball's No. 2 official takes David Ortiz at his word that over-the-counter supplements and vitamins likely caused him to wind up on a list of alleged drug users.

Woods rallies at Firestone
AKRON, Ohio -- First came another signature moment from Tiger Woods, an 8-iron over the water that stopped a foot from the hole. Even more stunning was the meltdown that followed by Padraig Harrington.

The Rant
Honestly, I can't imagine anyone caring at this point, but I'm proud of the Detroit Lions fans. The team that's barely had a memorable season since the NFL-AFL merger was 0-16 last year. But according to an AP story, the team had 15,000 fans show up for Saturday's two-hour open practice. Was there a KISS concert afterward? Fireworks? Bobbleheads? Apparently, these people were driven by nothing but blind loyalty to a team that has given them so little to be a fan of. It feels like behavior that should be made fun of, but I think these people have suffered enough. I think I'll just admire their optimism. -- Stuart Korfhage

The Rant
I don't want to say Bobby Bowden is off his rocker (it would make me sound as old as he is), but let's just say he's missing a few marbles these days. I don't blame him for wanting another national title, but chances are it won't come anytime soon. FSU needs to climb out of mediocrity first. Bowden is so far behind the other Florida powers in recruiting, it's like starting from scratch. The truth is, it's still FSU. So, someday they will return to the grand stage. But for the time being, let's be realistic here. Even in the ACC, FSU won't rise to the top. -- Danny Klein

He's Florida's go-to guy on foreclosure cleanouts
GROVELAND -- 393 Ed Douglas Road was a hot potato now, not a home -- just another ghost property in the resale pipeline with curtainless windows, a yard populated by fire ants and weeds, and the telltale flier taped to the front door: "U.S. Government Property."

Lotteries
TALLAHASSEE -- The jackpot in the Florida Lotto game has grown to $11 million after no one matched the six winning numbers in the latest drawing, lottery officials said Sunday.

Teen saves mentor's life
Jim Rigdon, a longtime volunteer in the New Start program, was picking up trash at a church this week when he fell, started bleeding from his nose and couldn't get up. Instead of joining him for a planned community service project, Ryan Nelson put Rigdon in his car.

Mega Money player wins $2M top prize
TALLAHASSEE (AP) -- One ticket matched the four winning numbers plus the Mega Ball to collect $2 million in the Mega Money game, the Florida Lottery said Saturday.

Missouri man dies scuba diving off Keys
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said Kaizer Calcuttawala, of Hannibal, Mo., failed to surface Saturday afternoon on his second dive of the day. He and several others were in about 15 feet of water diving for lobster.

Fla. gun permit requests way up in 2009
TALLAHASSEE -- So many Florida residents are seeking concealed weapons permits that the state has had to hire 61 temporary employees just to help process the requests.

Take in Geneva while on a budget
GENEVA -- This city on Lake Geneva with a view of snowcapped Mont Blanc is one of the world's most expensive cities, with famous shops selling exquisite jewelry and luxury watches.

Taliban leader's death disputed in Pakistan, shootout claimed
ISLAMABAD -- Senior Taliban commanders denied that their leader, Baitullah Mehsud, had been killed in a CIA missile strike, while conflicting reports emerged late Saturday of a clash between rival Taliban factions during a meeting to chose a successor.

World Report
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan --A militant commander who is holding a Fort Richardson-based soldier abducted in Afghanistan said Sunday that Taliban leader Mullah Omar's council is waiting for a response to its demands before deciding the American's fate.

World report
LONDON -- Beatles fans mobbed London's Abbey Road on the 40th anniversary of the famous photo that turned this ordinary London street into a musical pilgrimage site.

Indonesia: Top terror suspect dies in gunbattle
BEJI, Indonesia -- Police reportedly killed the self-proclaimed Southeast Asian commander of al-Qaida on Saturday in a 16-hour siege of a village hide-out, but authorities said they could not confirm a recovered body was that of the militant leader without DNA tests.

Graveyard of ships found off Sweden
STOCKHOLM -- The fire began in the galley, where the crew had kept a stove burning while they visited a tavern ashore. As the flames devoured her stern, the Anna Maria sank through the ice in the Stockholm archipelago.

French embassy staff confess in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran -- A young French academic and local staff of the British and French embassies stood trial Saturday with dozens of Iranian opposition figures and confessed to being involved in the country's postelection unrest.

Jail conditions hamper Gitmo cases
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- U.S. military prosecutors allege that Ahmed al-Darbi has met with Osama bin Laden, trained at an al-Qaida terrorist camp, and plotted to blow up a ship in the Strait of Hormuz or off Yemen.

Iraq asks about 3 detained Americans
BAGHDAD -- Iraq has appealed to Iran for information about the detention of three Americans who crossed the border while hiking in the Kurdish north, the foreign minister said Saturday.